Preserved counties of Wales
current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty
The preserved counties of Wales (Welsh: siroedd cadwedig) are the eight current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty. They are based on the counties which were used for local government and other purposes between 1974 and 1996. Each comprises one or more of the 22 single-tier principal areas which are used for administrative purposes.
Usage
The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 abolished the eight ceremonial counties created by the Local Government Act 1972. However, it created the concept of preserved counties based on their areas, to be used for purposes such as lieutenancy. This usage was consolidated by the Lieutenancies Act 1997. Certain statutes already in force were amended to include reference to them.
Boundary changes
The preserved counties were originally almost identical to the 1974–96 counties, but with a few minor changes in line with local government boundary changes: Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, Llansilin and Llangedwyn were transferred from Clwyd to Powys, and Wick, St Brides Major, Ewenny and Pentyrch were transferred from Mid Glamorgan to South Glamorgan. There were however two local government areas, Caerphilly and Conwy, split between preserved counties.
The Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales were instructed by the National Assembly for Wales on 11 March 2002 to undertake a review of preserved county boundaries.
The public source identifies “Preserved counties of Wales” as current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Preserved, counties and Wales.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Preserved counties of Wales”, the useful work is to connect “current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q630638. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1974, 1996, 1994 and 1972.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Preserved counties of Wales” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.